Ultimo Piatto del Giorno

The Italy kiosk was mobbed for almost all of Saturday. At the end of the night, we staked out a spot at the Italy Pavilion for Illuminations (the nightly fireworks spectacular) and, with plenty of time, decided to make Italy our last food stop of the night.

So empty! What a contrast to Saturday (the day we went)!
Unlike a lot of the other menus, the names of the dishes at the Italy kiosk were actually written in Italian (which made M happy):


We tried the ravioli di formaggio all'Emiliana (baked cheese ravioli with creamy beef bolognese, parmesan and mozzarella) ($4.50):


M's take - The ravioli were very good. Very cheesy. I was disappointed that there wasn't that much bolognese sauce since I love bolognese sauce. I was hoping we could try this again to see if there would be more sauce the next time but we didn't have enough days.

A's take - Very tasty dish. A little rich because of the heavy layer of cheese, but that also made it so tasty. The bolognese was sparing, and I wonder if that was because we went so late in the day (night). What little sauce was there tasted very good. It had just the right mix of sweetness and tang.

We also tried the capellini con gamberi piccanti (capellini (angel hair) pasta with spicy shrimp) ($5.25):


M's take - This was good. It had a nice clean healthy flavor. There were a decent number of shrimp and the dish was densely packed with pasta. I think it would be easier to recreate this at home (unlike the ravioli) but it was still very good.

A's take - This was a tasty pasta dish, but M is correct. This is something we could probably make at home. The shrimp was good, but the parts I had were a bit chewy, almost like it had been overcooked a bit. The sauce was similar to the bolognese but without the meat.

For dessert, they had the cannoli al cioccolato (chocolate covered cannoli filled with sweet ricotta cheese, chocolate and candied fruit) ($3.50):


M's take - I don't usually like cannolis, finding them very, very rich and heavy. This one was pretty good. The chocolate shell had a nice crunch and the cheese inside was so smooth and rich. The dessert had a nice sweetness to it.

A's take - I'm not usually a huge fan of cannolis either, and while this one was tasty, the heaviness and richness just didn't sit well with my palate. The chocolate covered shell was crisp, though, and that was a pleasant surprise.

It was easy to see why the Italy kiosk was so popular. The food there was good and the perfect filling snack.

Favorite dishes from the Italy kiosk:
A: Ravioli
M: Ravioli